The company trying to build a pipeline to carry Canadian oil south to the Gulf Coast says its efforts to force Nebraska landowners to agree to the project remain on hold because of several pending lawsuits.

Earlier this month, a Holt County judge blocked TransCanada's eminent domain efforts there. Company spokesman Mark Cooper says TransCanada will agree to a similar order in York County at a hearing Thursday.

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Cooper says TransCanada plans to ask judges in seven other Nebraska counties to delay action on its other eminent domain cases until the lawsuits are resolved.

The proposed pipeline needs presidential approval before it could be built across Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska to connect with existing pipelines. It would carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day.